


Across the Stars

by WinTTY



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/F, Old Republic Era
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-11 07:12:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11143440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinTTY/pseuds/WinTTY
Summary: “Max Caulfield? Don’t you forget about me.”-A billion stars sprawl out on the night sky, each one supporting some kind of intelligent life in its system - a habitable world, an enormous civilisation, members of the Republic, perhaps the Sith Empire. Somewhere out there, in that sparkling, inky ocean is Max - Chloe just doesn’t know where.





	1. Hella long way from home

**Author's Note:**

> Obligatory foreword - AU is set in 3643 BBY, around the time of The Old Republic era and the Great Galactic War (for non-nerds, this is like... 3000 years before the movies, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT). AS A WARNING - it probably won't follow 99% of canon events of SWTOR/Novels at all, so please don't get mad when I derail :D

Chloe awoke with a start.

“Ugh,” she uttered under her breath, her hand grasping at her sheets before throwing them off. With a quick stretch, she got up and gave the cabin a quick scan.

There was nothing particularly striking about her small bed chambers on her old freighter. There was a cot, a bedside table and… that’s it. Actually, it wasn’t even a private bedroom - rather just an addition to the side of a corridor connecting the small lounging area and the cockpit. Her little piece of heaven.

Slipping into her old jacket, she shuffled over to the pilot's seat and threw herself down - looking around.

There was a sense of everything when she looked at the stars like that. Most notably futility, insignificance. She was just one soul out of the trillions out there - looking for another soul in that endless, void-like sea.

Chloe hadn’t seen Max in nearly a decade, not since her family suddenly uprooted themselves from Sullust and disappeared from her life. She still remembers her last words to her best friend then; _"Don’t you forget about me.”_

“Pfft,” she scoffed and reclined in her chair, throwing her feet up on the console and her hands behind her head as she continued to look at the view.

But just because she hadn’t seen her in a decade, because Max seemingly forgot about her - Chloe never forgot herself, never gave up. Since she’d been of age her life revolved around the constant search - one planet to another - dozens upon dozens of worlds, countless species and faces. Along the way she picked up work, freight hand here, bartender for a few nights there, and eventually she managed to snag a deal with her saved credits on a cheap, old freighter. Never staying in one place too long, she ensured to keep in contact with her mother and father - Joyce and William. Still living on Sullust, they were worried for the well being of their daughter and her futile-yet-noble quest to find her best friend.

The console beeped loudly.

“What now?” she whispered and shifted in her seat, bringing up the flickering holo-display. Scanning over the approaching contacts, Chloe made out a dozen or so ships - _battle_ ships.

Hopefully they’d pass by, she hoped. Hopefully.

A momentary blink and a dozen warships came into existence, one to the port, to the starboard - the bow, the stern. Hell - there was probably more in every other direction that Chloe couldn’t see.

“Shit,” she mumbled and looked around at the hull plating, spotting the obvious Republic insignia on the side.

Standing up with purpose, she swung around the chair and ran the length of the corridor, passing the lounging area and heading straight into the small cargo hold.

Inside there was a dozen or so crates, each covered with a tarp and fastened to the floor. Rattling off the containers in her head, she tried to think of any contraband she might be carrying in Republic space - deathsticks, perhaps spices. Nope. Nothing.

Again the console beeped in the distance, the sound echoing around the halls.

Chloe groaned. “What _now?”_

Running right back to the cockpit, she was violently thrown to the side when an explosion rocked the ship. No - not _her_ ship - a _battleship._

“What the hell?”

With a sprint she barrelled forward, throwing herself down on the pilot's chair and starting to look around.

Around her were still the Republic vessels - mighty as ever - but alongside them were now much sleeker, grey starships. The Sith Empire.

“Holy fuck,” she whispered and began to frantically switch and press buttons on her console. With a soft jolt, the hum of the freighter engines followed. “Holy _fuck,”_ she repeated and looked up again, spotting turbolasers spinning up and firing salvos at one another.

Slamming her hand down on the hyperdrive stick, she thrust it forward and fell back into her chair. Moments later she saw the stars turn to lines, stretching far beyond their normal proportions above her - the warships disappearing in a blink. The freighter rumbled and jumped.

Chloe sat in her chair the entire time, heart beating as she looked over the elongated stars.

That was too close for comfort - her third run in with an interstellar battle between the two great powers in the galaxy. Things were once again heating up - following the Sacking of Coruscant and the subsequent treaty, the Sith Empire dwelled and recovered in their part of the galaxy, pushing their limits with each passing month, year, and pressuring Republic aligned worlds to their side. There was covert actions, special ops, proxy wars - missions under taken behind the scenes in an attempt to subvert one another.

It was only a few months ago that the war kicked off once again, plunging swathes of the galaxy into conflict. Unluckily for Chloe, most of her smuggling routes were located between Republic and Sith controlled space - making her a target of almost constant inspections, but also a witness to the numerous space battles ongoing all the time across the stars.

Pulling back the stick again, she sighed and focused on the sudden sphere that came into view - Nar Shaddaa.

Easing the engines into a simple flight path, Chloe pitched the vessel into descent towards the atmosphere and the colossal towers that covered the city-world.

* * *

 

After finding a sufficiently hidden landing pad, Chloe grabbed her blaster and credit chip before heading out into the perpetual night that shrouded the city-world.

Finding a club was easy on a seedy, criminal-infested world like Nar Shaddaa - just look for the giant glowing neon sign that wasn’t written in galactic basic.

“Bingo,” she mumbled to herself as she saw exactly that. Adjusting her blaster, she slotted her credit chip into her jacket and set off.

Inside, the loud music pumped through the air, a crowd danced in one corner of the room - sweaty bodies crashing against one another time and time again as they were having a good time. Per custom, multiple poles dotted the club - some occupied by living species such as Twi’leks, humans, whilst others were simply holo-dancers of some obscure race from the fringes of the galaxy.

Chloe sat herself down at the bar and waved the Rodian bartender over. “Give me your best,” she said and grasped his forearm, pulling him close, “and don’t try to spike my shit, got it?”

He simply nodded and tooted out a string of expletives in his language.

Swivelling in her stool, Chloe looked around the bar. There was a quite colourful variety of species all around - Twi’leks, Rodians, Humans, a bundle of Ithorians, posse of Trandoshans and even more that she couldn’t name off the top of her head.

When a hand fell onto her shoulder she turned her head, seeing her drink being placed beside her whilst the bartender left in an instant. Bringing the cup to her lips, she sipped the beverage and winced when the bitter, fiery flavour burned her mouth and throat.

“Ugh,” she grunted and slammed the cup back down.

“What’s a handsome rogue doing down here amongst all the scum and villains of Nar Shaddaa?”

Chloe turned her head to the side and smirked, noticing a female Twi’lek approaching her with a coquettish smile. “Just grabbing a drink,” she replied and sipped.

“Is that all?” she asked, batting her eyelashes seductively and scooching up close.

Wrapping her arm around her without hesitation, Chloe brought her closer and smirked even wider. “Dunno. You got something to show me?”

She giggled. “You can call me Aime,” she whispered and ran her pale, light-blue finger across the jaw of the blue-haired rogue. “I _might_ have something to show you, if you play your cards right.”

Chloe brought up her drink and took another sip. “I see,” she grinned, “and what does this gal have to do to earn herself your attention?”

“Oh, you already have it.” Aime smiled and waved the Rodian bartender over to them, “How about a quick drink, then we can… _talk_ more privately?”

Under other circumstances, perhaps another species, Chloe’s head would be exploding in alarm. But… there was something about this Twi’lek, something… strange that kept Chloe enticed. It almost felt like a foreign presence had invaded her brain.

“Sure,” she replied and turned her head to the side, spotting the Rodian already waiting. “Get her the same thing,” she gestured with her hand to her glass, “on the double, kiddo.”

Again the Rodian tooted out some untranslatable words and set off to work.

“So you never told me your name,” Aime said. “Is it part of your rogue charm, or just a precaution?”

“A little bit of both,” Chloe brushed some hair out of her face, “the latter more so than the former.”

“Ooh,” the Twi’lek hummed. “So what _is_ your name?”

“Chloe,” the rogue found herself saying, eyes stuck on the seductive gaze staring right back.

“Mm, suits you,” she whispered and ran her finger along Chloe’s jaw again. “How about we skip the drinks?”

“Sure,” Chloe immediately replied out of character, staring straight into the irises of the scantily dressed alien.

Aime smiled and took Chloe’s hand, beginning to lead her through the club, up a set of stairs and down a lengthy corridor. Locked rooms were on either side of the hallway, some with flashing signs above them in an alien language - something along the lines of ‘busy, do not disturb’.

“Here,” the Twi’lek said and led her inside an empty room, locking the doors behind them with a quiet _hiss._

Chloe found herself promptly being pushed onto the comfortable bed, straddled by the oh-so-forward girl she’d only met a few minutes prior.

She watched as her hands reached for her blaster, taking it out of her holster. “Won’t be needing this.”

A deeply repressed voice in her head screamed; a warning, a cry for help as her eyes were unable to look at anything but Aime. “Uh,” she stuttered out, mouth quickly being silenced by a soft finger on her lips.

“Shh,” she cooed and placed the blaster above the rogue’s head, out of view. Slipping down towards her, she hovered a mere inch above her face.

Chloe saw the glint of metal out of her peripheral.

Alarm bells struck and in an immediate move her hand shot up to violently throw the alien off  - her other grasping at the handle of her blaster just above. “What the fuck!”

Aime recovered in moments, throwing herself back up against the rogue with her dagger.

Chloe pressed the trigger and saw the two blasts penetrate her abdomen cleanly, the force stumbling the Twi’lek back a few feet as her dagger dropped to the floor with a clatter. Bringing her hands to her wound, Aime looked down at them and saw the dark-blue blood that was drawn.

Collapsing to her knees, the would-be assassin found herself being gently lowered by two strong arms. The still warm barrel of the blaster was pressed against her chin. “Talk,” the rogue demanded as fire replaced her irises, burning for truth. “Who sent you to kill me?”

“Too l-late,” Aime whispered with her last few breaths of life. “T-they’re a-already he… here...”

The rogue dropped her to the floor, ignoring her sudden groan of pain. Hand still tightly gripping her blaster, she turned towards the door as it opened moments later with a loud _hiss._

Three Trandoshans ran in with blaster rifles, the trio followed by the Rodian bartender with a blaster in his hands. The group all pointed their weapons in unison at Chloe, the bartender shooting a glance at the dying Twi’lek assassin.

“You’ve caused Kirish the Hutt a lot of trouble, Price,” he spoke in galactic basic, voice pitched a bit too high. “We’re here to collect that bounty on your head.”

Staring at the blaster barrels pointed at her, Chloe tried to think of an escape plan. With a quick peek below the legs of the Rodian bounty-hunter, she saw the slimmest outline of exposed piping.

“I’m not about to go down without a fight, Kirish knows that.” Chloe shifted to her right, causing the group to shift with her; making the effort to still block her escape route.

The leader scoffed. “That’s why he wants you either dead or alive; it’s all the same to him now.”

Chloe nodded and lowered her blaster in mock surrender. Momentarily they relented their aim, giving her enough time.

She pressed the trigger and shot at the pipes with hope, rolling sideways, her blast thankfully causing an ignition and a small explosion that knocked the group forwards and off their feet. Scrambling to her feet, she ran over the groaning bodies and slammed her hand down on the door controls - closing it behind her. For good measure, she packed it with a few blaster bolts too.

Slotting her blaster back in its holster, Chloe ran as fast as she could through the gathering crowds in the club and the dingy streets outside.

* * *

 

“Shit, shit, shit!” Chloe uttered under her nose as her legs carried her forward.

Furiously tapping at the door console, she slammed her fist a few times against the slowly rising metal cover. “Come on, come on!”

Once inside her ship, she immediately turned on her heel and input her locking code into the small pad - waiting a few seconds whilst the door once again began to close.

She turned and ran down the length of her freighter, throwing her blaster down onto the small table in her lounging area in the process. With a hiss, she clambered over into the pilot's chair and threw herself down - hands making quick work of all the buttons and switches.

Before long, the engines rumbled to life and the old ship pitched and yawed upwards - shooting into the atmosphere at a dangerous angle, dodging a few vessels and hover cars on her way up.

Once out of the pull of the planet, she sighed. Her legs promptly up on the console and hands behind her head, she looked over the constantly buzzing armada of vessels that surrounded the planet. Merchants, traders, smugglers… bounty hunters.

“That’s Nar Shaddaa off the books for now,” she mumbled to herself in thought.

The crinkle of fabric and the quiet jangle of plasteel armour.

Jolting her eyes open, the cold barrel of a blaster pressed against the back of her skull.

“No sudden movements,” the scrambled voice said, sound further muffled by their helmet. “Kirish wishes to see you alive, but I will press the trigger if you force my hand.”

Chloe sighed in defeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cough.
> 
> HI, here's my new fic - a frickin' Star Wars crossover with none other than your favourite punk and juvenile delinquent Chloe Price as the protagonist. I hope it won't be too long, maybe bordering on 50,000 words, probably less - it really depends where and how I want to end it (yes, this is very much made up as I go along, I only have basic plot points in mind - hooray for winging it). I promise fluff, smut and a lot of action!!
> 
> Don't know how this'll be updated TBH, probably as I write chapters and check over the drafts - it'll be erratic, might come in short bursts if I get ideas. This is a side project, much like Houndin' For You was, so yeah.
> 
> Excuse me for any screw ups I make with SW lore and stuff, I basically only know the surface stuff that came up in google searches and such.
> 
> ALSO SORRY TO HAVE MISSED YESTERDAYS PRETEND WE'RE DEAD DEADLINE, SOMETHING BIG CAME UP AND I HAD TO GO FOR THE DAY HENCE NO CHAPTER - TOMORROW CH13 RELEASES AS NORMAL!!
> 
> BYE!!  
> \- :) WinTTY  
> ps. i suck with summaries


	2. Great Hunt

When the freighter dropped out of hyperspeed, the swampy, diseased world of Hutta had made it’s appearance.

“Take us down,” the bounty hunter spoke, blaster still pressed against Chloe’s skull. “No funny business either.”

She huffed out a breath. “Like I can do anything with a blaster pressed against my head.”

The bounty hunter laughed. “I’ve heard a lot of things about you, I’m not so confident you wouldn’t try something even with the current circumstances.”

Chloe knew that the words were true. Since she’d been forced to take them to Hutta, her mind had already come up with dozens of plans and ideas on how to turn the situation into her favour, despite the fact there was a blaster digging into the back of her skull.

“So whats your name, huh?” Chloe asked, pitching the freighter down slowly. It shook when they began to break through the atmosphere, plunging through the toxic clouds.

“Juth.”

“So are you a dude or…?”

“That doesn’t concern you right now,” Juth spoke. “Keep flying and stay silent.”

She obeyed and yawed the vessel slightly as they plowed out of the clouds. Below them sprawling, decrepit swamps covered the ground as far as the eye could see. Small settlements peppered the desolate landscape, packs of wild animals roamed the bogs whilst there were hints and flashes of occasional blaster fire.

“Where to now?” she asked, spotting a rising building in the distance - no doubt a Hutt palace.

Juth scoffed. “You know exactly where. Take us to Kirish the Hutt’s palace,” Juth said, pressing the blaster against her skull to make a point. “Make it quick.”

As the freighter continued its slow descent, Chloe kept shooting looks down at the ground below. Indeed there were battles being fought on the surface; droids and mercenaries, mercenaries and animals, animals and people. It looked like chaos.

“Hell,” she muttered when a stray blaster bolt harmlessly glanced off the cockpit window.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Juth said. “Hutta has always been at war; organisations and cartels fighting against one another for turf. Petty.”

“Doesn’t seem like you admire the Hutt’s much.” Chloe smirked and yawed the vessel slightly.

“Despicable, slimy, disgusting creatures.” Juth chuckled. “But they pay good for smugglers like you.”

“Not just a smuggler,” the rogue admitted. “I was a bounty hunter for a time-”

“Not a good one, I imagine,” Juth quipped.

“Fuck you.” Chloe yawed the ship harder this time, causing Juth to stumble but keep the blaster locked on her head.

“Try that again,” Juth warned, voice unwavered. “Try that again, and I _ won’t _ hesitate to present your cold corpse to Kirish.”

So Chloe followed Juth’s advice and didn’t try it again. Keeping silent, she continued to pilot her vessel above the swampy badlands - the occasional explosion or blaster fire giving her something else to look at rather than the sickly-yellow tinge of the sky.

Out of the smoky haze appeared a large, concrete tower that was surrounded by high walls and a small sprawl of buildings connected to it. Looking down below once they approached, Chloe spotted bazaars and droves of crowds moving through - large droids standing guard at entrances to important looking buildings, flanked by mercenaries that looked equally menacing.

“There,” Juth pointed, “land there.”

Bringing the ship to a halt, the stick was pulled back and switches were pushed. The vessel descended and the legs let out an audible  _ thump _ throughout the ship once they set on solid ground.

Juth stepped back, blaster still firmly pointed at the rogue. “With me. You won’t be needing anything - now walk.”

Chloe followed the orders, walking down the entire length of the corridor and stopping at the door. Inputting her code, she put her hands in her jacket and waited - foot patiently tapping as the door slowly ascended.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

“Weathers nice, huh?” Chloe joked.

“Shut it.” Juth jabbed the blaster into her back.

* * *

If there was one thing that Chloe was jealous of regarding the Hutt’s, it’d have to be their expensive, lavishly decorated palaces filled with Twi’lek slaves and bars a-plenty. Where small bundles of people stood, there were poles with exotic dancers twirling and turning with finesse - graciously showing off their near-perfect bodies.

“Keep moving,” Juth said and pushed Chloe forward. “We’re here for Kirish, not the slaves.”

She followed the orders she was given, walking down the spacious hallway that led to an even grander entrance - either side flanked by mean looking Gamorreans wielding hefty axes.

Upon stepping inside, she immediately spotted the centre of attraction in the room - the fat, slimy, wrinkly slug-like creature that lazily sat on the far end of the ‘throne room’. Kirish the Hutt in all his disgusting, deplorable glory.

With a bellowing laugh, he held out his stubby arms and looked at the approaching bounty hunter and their trophy.

“Kirish the Hutt,” Juth began and pushed Chloe forward, “I present to you Chloe Price, smuggler and the one which had wronged your magnificence.”

Out of the shadows stepped forward a Twi’lek with long lekku wrapped around his shoulders. Giving Juth a respectful bow, he turned to the rogue and spoke in Twi’leki, seemingly addressing her in his language.

“Ugh, nu-uh.” Chloe shook her head. “Don’t understand nothing but galactic basic, sorry dude.”

Insulted yet calm, the translator backed up and was promptly replaced with a chrome, state-of-the-art GE3-series protocol droid.

“His magnanimous magnificence, Kirish the Hutt, head of the Seshijic family and all its associates, conglomerates, affiliates-”

“Skip the introductions, we know each other D6-3GE - in case your memory circuits were wiped again.” Chloe crossed her arms and stared at Kirish.

“Why-.” D6-3GE jolted in his place, insulted. “How rude! I was merely introducing my mast-”

Kirish let out a thunderous bellow, turning the heads of every patron in the room and silencing the atmosphere in an instant.

D6-3GE let out a robotic sigh and adjusted his posture again, facing the rogue. “Kirish the Hutt welcomes you to his palace on this most significant occasion, Chloe Price.”

She scoffed and shifted her weight onto one leg. “Which is?”

“Your execution,” D6-3GE cheerily said.

Silence followed, a stench rising in the air - tension so thin it could be cut with a vibroblade. As the eyes of each patron rested on either Chloe or Kirish, theirs instead rested upon one another. In good spirits, Chloe laughed.

“Oh, dude, you totally got me,” she said through her laugh, one hand wiping away a trace of tears. “Wow, I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard since the last time I’ve been here.”

D6-3GE stood in shocked silence, turning bulkily towards his master, his wiring confused.

Chloe noticed nobody else was laughing after a few more seconds. “Uh,” she uttered and stood back up, looking around. “Uh… you’re not kidding, are you?”

Kirish held out his stubby arms again as his booming voice filled the room, speaking extremely slowly in Huttese, drawing out his incomprehensible words.

“Kirish the Hutt wishes you to know that this was the last time you wronged him,” D6-3GE said, actively translating as the hutt continued to speak. “Your debts to his majesty are far too many and far too big to be simply forgiven, even with years underneath his service.”

“Listen, dude, I can totally get your credits - okay? Seriously, I know a guy-”

**“Ban gon wan she co, cah,”** Kirish spoke loudly, slowly yet clearly for once.

Chloe froze in her place, her brain processing the little bit of Huttese she knew - especially that statement.  _ There will be no bargain.  _ The words ran through her mind again and again, ensuring that she got it right.

“As my master so eloquently said, there will be no bargains Chloe Price.” D6-3GE turned to the Hutt briefly and then back to the rogue. “You will be kept prisoner until an opportune time, henceforth your execution will follow to the pleasure of the masses so graciously accepting of Kirish the Hutt’s rule.”

She stood there, mouth half-open in shock, perhaps fear at the words she’d heard. To her side, Juth laughed underneath the plasteel helmet, the sound distorted and muffled.

“Waaaait. Wait, wait, wait.  _ WAIT!” _ Chloe backed up a step, her movement immediately causing a round of gasps to escape the gathering crowds as Juth stepped forward with blaster in hand, a set of Gamorrean guards already moving towards her. “Hold up here, Kirish-”

The Hutt once again bellowed out another string of words.

D6-3GE began to translate, speaking over the Hutt, “Kirish the Hutt wishes you to know once again that this was the last time you had crossed him, for his generosity is at an end. Now you’ll be seized and held until after the Great Hunt whilst his majesty searches for a worthy tribute-”

_ Great Hunt.  _ Chloe stopped and jabbed a finger into her sternum. “Wait! I’ll volunteer for the Great Hunt!”

Another series of gasps and shocked whispers came up around the patrons.

Kirish stopped his speaking and rested his great, big, glassy eyes on the blue-haired rogue - his stubby arms dropping back down onto his leather-like skin.

“I’ll volunteer to be your hunter for this Great Hunt, in exchange for my life,” she said, taking a step forward. “Come on Kirish, you know me - I’ve a fair few bounties under my name, have the ship, weapons, credits. I just… uh... need a team... and a sponsor...? Plus you get me for _ free, _ rather than having to pay for another hunter - how’s that sound, huh?”

Juth kept quiet, staring at the rogue from underneath the helmet.

“Seriously - I’ll even allow you to keep all the profits and whatever else for yourself,” she waited a few seconds, “Okay, maybe not _ all _ the profits - how’s 30-70 sound?”

Kirish narrowed his great eyes, leaning forward as he huffed out a laboured breath.

“Okay, okay... 80-20? 90-10? 95-5?” she rattled off a string a numbers, staring at the silent Hutt the entire time. “C’mon, give me  _ something _ to work with here, I need some credits too-”

Huttese yet again echoed around the great hall as Kirish spoke, his wrinkled body turning towards D6-3GE as his small, stubby arms flailed in his direction.

“Kirish the Hutt has considered your proposal, Chloe Price, and he wishes you to know that he’ll accept no less than 97-3 profit return,” the droid spoke as Kirish continued, “You will be provided with basic equipment, nothing else. A team you’ll have to form yourself, whether you wish to or not - his majesty cares not.”

Chloe stared at the droid and then at Kirish. “Uh… sweet! When do I start?”

* * *

Walking out of the small armory and medical wing, Chloe ran her hand over the side of her neck where a nanosized tracking chip was implanted into her. Looking ahead, she spotted the bounty hunter from before, Juth, waiting patiently.

“Here,” Juth held out a datapad, “That’s your list of bounties. I doubt you’ll get more than one - the Mandalorians will pick you apart if your rival doesn’t.”

“Who’s my rival?” she asked, looking down at the datapad.

“Don’t know their name, nor their species or anything else for that matter. All Kirish knows is that they’re sponsored by the Prescott Corporation.” Juth looked over Chloe as she listened.

“Prescott?” Chloe looked up at him with a frown. “No way.”

“This is the Great Hunt - the big league, not some amateur bounty hunting competition in the outer rim.” Juth laughed. “Get used to it.”

“Right,” Chloe replied and put the datapad away. “So, uh… can you actually explain this whole thing to me?”

“You’re serious?” Juth asked, arms crossed.

Chloe nodded. “Hey, listen - I was kinda desperate to save my ass back there, I wasn’t really concerned whether or not I knew what the Great Hunt really was,” she dropped her arms beside her, “All I  _ do  _ know is that it’s some giant bounty hunting competition, that’s it.”

Juth kept quiet. “I’ll explain it once, then I’m gone from this toxic shithole - I’ve already spent too much time here.”

Chloe nodded again. “Okay.”

“Great Hunt. Mandalorian-dominated bounty hunt across the galaxy - participants are given a list of targets, most of them heavily protected or otherwise important to somebody. You kill the bounties, unless otherwise stated, and bring proof once you’re done to your sponsor. Your sponsor then provides the proof to the organisers and you get paid, your name celebrated until the next Great Hunt - got it?”

“Yeah.”

“For each bounty, two hunters are assigned. That means-”

“I have to kill them, thin out the competition,” the rogue finished.

“Exactly. In the end it’ll only be you standing. Though I doubt that.” Juth laughed.

“Okay… uh, thanks.” Chloe smiled briefly.

“Whatever. I’m gone,” Juth said and turned around, walking down the hallway before disappearing behind a large doorway.

“Prick,” she breathed out and set off down the corridor herself.

* * *

Once back on the ship, Chloe wasted no time in making herself comfortable yet again. With her casual smuggler attire on and her leather jacket, she threw herself back into her chair in the cockpit.

Whilst the engines rumbled to a start, the rogue pitched the vessel towards the atmosphere and waited. Moments later, the freighter shot upwards towards the sickly-yellow clouds, cutting through with ease before jumping out on the other side - revealing the black void beyond Hutta.

“Great Hunt,” she whispered to herself as she piloted, “What a fucking idiot I am.”

Running her hand over the side of her neck again, she felt the small bump where her tracking chip was inserted. Kirish had warned her if she’d tried to run that the small device wasn’t  _ just _ a tracking chip, in fact it had also contained a nanobomb - powerful enough to make quite the mess from what she’d been told.

Putting the ship into hyperspeed, she threw her legs up on the console and retrieved the datapad - eyes gazing over the list she’d been given. Mouthing off the names quietly to herself, her mind constantly wandered over the looming question - what would happen to her search of Max?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone who's played the Bounty Hunter storyline in SWTOR knows what the Great Hunt is :P
> 
> Once again - there is no set schedule for these updates, chapters will be released as I finish them.
> 
> \- :) WinTTY


End file.
